


Why shouldn't I?

by Sylvalum



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, all my fics are rated T cause they say fuck, kinda angsty too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 02:19:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17112593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylvalum/pseuds/Sylvalum
Summary: This is disgraceful. Somehow Pyra turned the issue around intohercheering upNia, when it should’ve been Nia providing comfort for Pyra.





	Why shouldn't I?

**Author's Note:**

> i know pyrex is otp, but please consider:

Basically the first thing their rescuer says, is that he starts asking them to help him patch up a robot or something by buying parts for him. Using their own, very non-existent money. Classic Nopon behaviour, eh? It’d be so much funnier (hah, no) if they weren’t in a hurry and fleeing from the Jewel of Mor Ardain, and if they weren’t wanted, or just hadn’t had half the team captured by Ardainian soldiers.

“If friends could get parts for Poppi then Tora could-“

“But first we must rescue Rex and Azurda and Perun!” Pyra’s voice never gets really loud, as Nia’s quickly discovering, but she’s clenching her fists and the ether around her just – itches. Yeah, being separated from her Driver like this has to be bloody awful. “We don’t have time to run errands when they could be waiting on their execution!”

“Meh-meh!” The Nopon anxiously waves his stubby little arms. Like, Nia is grateful he saved them and all, but on the other hand… “Tora work as fast as Tora can! Tora need just _four_ more parts, and then first Artificial Blade in Alrest will be complete!”

Nia pipes up, suddenly suspicious: “What… sorta parts?”

“Just a few Bion Connectors and a Perfect Range Sensor!” Tora looks relieved that someone’s finally helping him get those… thingamabobs Nia’s never heard of before. Tora cheerfully suggests, “Bion Connectors should be easy to salvage.”

Pyra snaps, “We just lost our only Salvager!” only to then immediately after hide her head in her hands and whisper, “Sorry, sorry, I’m just so-“

“It’s okay,” Nia says.

“If I’d have lost my lady, no doubt I’d be tense too,” Dromarch admits.

Tora tries again, saying, “…Bion Connectors available in market too.”

“Okay then.” Pyra takes a deep breath. And then she starts removing one of her earrings. “This is a natural crystal,” she explains, removing the little glowing green shard. “They’re pretty valuable, so I think one should be enough.”

…Nia processes what Pyra just said. Then she exclaims, “No! We’re not just gonna… sell parts of your outfit or something, sheesh Pyra.” _What the hell._ That’s just – you don’t just sell bits of your Blade Armour! Besides, they’re not that desperate yet, are they? “We’ll think of something else.”

“Yes,” says Dromarch, and looks at Nia. And Nia promises to herself, _no stealing_. Not again. It’d only get everyone in more trouble, and she’s already wanted for hanging with Torna. They’re going to do this honestly: they owe it to Pyra for saving them back when Brighid appeared…

 

* * *

 

Tora digs up a Gormotti style cloak for Pyra, which instantly improves her outfit but also works okay as a disguise, and then they’re on their way. After some consideration Nia pulls down her own hood too, but there’s not much they can do about Dromarch, so it’s just gotta work or else. Pyra keeps wringing her hands as they walk, and Nia wants to tell her – something. Something comforting, but she’s no good at it, so what comes out is, “If worst comes to worst we can always ditch the Nopon and rescue Rex by ourselves.”

Pyra hums miserably in answer.

In the market they find the shop selling Bion Connectors, and of course they cost stupidly much when your pockets are empty. What the hell does Tora even need them for?

“What do we do now?”

Dromarch ignores her question and asks the guy running the shop, “Do you accept anything other than G as payment here, sir?”

“No.” The guy purses his lips. “Or maybe, just this once, if you could help me with…”

“Yes? Go on.”

“I need someone to clean the shop basement! If you help me, I’ll give you those-“

“Three Bion Connectors.”

“-the Bion Connectors, yeah. I’ll give them to you for free. What do you say?”

Pyra says, “We’ll do it. Thank you sir.”

 

* * *

 

There’s about a thousand rolls of fabric stowed into a stack at the far end of the room, and those are the neatest thing in it. Chairs and tables are stacked on top of each other, with a few pillows and an old bookshelf and a broken bedframe leaning precariously on them. There’s piles of books, and piles of boxes, and boxes inside of boxes, and a Torigonda and a few board games and three stacks of old newspapers, and clothes, and dishes, and a map of the Cloud Sea, and paintings, and a shelf specifically made for paintings instead filled up with stuffed toys, with a pair of purple boots and a rubber duck with an arrow through it on the highest shelf.

“So if you could just sort the things into piles, sweep the floors, organise a bit…” The shop guy makes a gesture. “I’ll come back in an hour and see how you’re doing!” The shop guy waves cheerfully, and escapes back up the stairs into the light and freedom.

Nia looks out over this kingdom of garbage.

What a miserable task.

“Let’s get to it,” says Pyra, and begins to roll up her sleeves. Dromarch lets out a sigh.

“Pyra, this is gonna take…” _forever_. “…long. A long, long time.”

“Not if we put our minds to it.”

Pyra attacks the pile of boxes. Dromarch looks at Nia, they share a look, and then they grudgingly begin to move furniture. Move furniture, move boxes, move newspapers… Gah! Moving something only revealed _more_ trash to move, and even more after that…

 

* * *

 

Hour two of The Cleaning, and even Nia has rolled up her sleeves. They’re sorting books, newspapers, posters and letters in separate piles, while Dromarch does his best at mopping the floor with the broom held between his teeth. Nia feels kind of like shouting. Not even words, just a scream of pure Gormotti frustration. There’s got to be easier ways to save Rex, right?! But speaking of Rex…

“So d’you fancy Rex, or what?”

Pyra startles so bad she hits a stack of boxes with her elbow. “Do I – Rex? I don’t…” She shakes her head violently. “No. No, but he’s my _Driver_ , he’s- I _have_ to save him-“

“I know, I know!” Nia holds up her hands. “Take it easy, that’s not why I asked!”

Nia still owes Rex anyhow. _Not_ saving him would just be _the_ shittiest thing to do, especially with how torn up Pyra is.

“Oh…” Pyra breathes and rubs a hand over her face. “I’m just so anxious. I don’t think Brighid would hurt Rex, but-“

“-but he’s still stupidly naïve, and he’s got a talent for finding trouble, and he’s your Driver?”

Pyra says almost sullenly, “He’s not stupid.”

“Nah. Just an optimist.” Nia chuckles mirthlessly.

“Being an optimist isn’t always bad, Nia.” Pyra looks at her with serious red eyes. It’s almost like she can see something of Nia’s past in her eyes, which is the strangest thought Nia’s had today, but she can’t find it in herself to look away despite this gnawing thought.

Nia feels like she has to clear her throat just from looking into Pyra’s eyes. She mumbles, “Hasn’t done me any good so far.”

Pyra tells her softly, “I’m sure things will change for you.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yes. If we stick together, I’m sure things will only get better.” Pyra has a seriously intense _look_ going on there, but now she sighs. “At least if we can save Rex and the others…”

This is disgraceful. Somehow Pyra turned the issue around into _her_ cheering up _Nia_ , when it should’ve been Nia providing comfort for Pyra. Weird Core Crystal or not, Pyra is turning out to be one of the sweetest (and most stressed) people Nia has ever encountered. She’s powerful too but ridiculously humble, and as determined as weeds. She feels like someone Nia could _trust_ , fighting back to back, maybe even…

 _Gotta save Rex_ , gotta save Rex, yeah, right.

“Of course we’ll save him, and Azurda and Perun too. Duh.” Nia huffs. “Like those soldiers could even hope to take us without the Jewel of Mor Ardain with them…”

“She might be there.”

“Dromarch’s a water Blade, we’ve got this.”

They’ve got to. As long as they stick together, they’ll make it.

 

* * *

 

Everything’s sorted into neat stacks, with the furniture put on a line at the back of the room. All the boxes are stacked in a well-ordered little pyramid. The floor practically shines, and all the books are in the shelf, all the actual trash disposed of, and now that they’re done Nia can proudly hand the shop guy a Core Crystal that she found lying around beneath a bunch of flower pots.

“Wow,” he says, eyes wide. “Didn’t think you’d actually finish it…”

“The Bion Connectors?”

“Ah right…” He goes to fetch them, and when he gets back Nia quickly stashes the Bion Connectors in her pouch. She figures it’s the most secure place they could put them at the moment. “Thanks,” says shop guy. Nia is getting real fucking tired of his face. “You’ve done a really good job! If you’re ever around these parts again then I’d be happy if you’d stop by the shop!”

“Maybe we’ll do,” says Pyra diplomatically, and then finally they can ascend the stairs and step out into the fresh air once more – _and_ discover that it’s nearly sunset already. They all glance toward the enormous black lump of a battleship docked at the Torigoth Relay Base, and Pyra’s face makes Nia rush to say,

“Just one part more.”

“A Perfect Range Sensor,” agrees Dromarch.

“And where are we supposed to find those?!”

-A voice behind them says, _ahem_. The three of them nearly jump, but when they spin around to look it’s just some Gormotti man. “I couldn’t help but hear you talking,” he says. “My name is Cedwyn, I’m a botanist, and you see…”

 

* * *

 

Trekking over to Lascham Island and back to Torigoth takes less time than the cleaning had done, even with the weather rapidly getting worse and worse. Nia can’t even believe how much time the cleaning took, but at least they solved it all without committing any more crimes ( now that’s a _good_ thing). Dromarch steadfastly carries on, Nia’s ever thoughtful silent companion, while Pyra grows more and more agitated by the minute. They all three resolve to hurry back to Tora’s house as fast as possible, with Pyra dashing in front.

When they get there, it thankfully doesn’t take long for the Nopon to get the door open.

“Friends return safely!” he cries. “Just in time! Do friends have parts?”

Nia hands him his parts, and Tora rushes off without a word.

Nia, Pyra and Dromarch all share a look.

They follow him into his house, and Nia’s glad that it’s built for human size. She doesn’t really care _why_ as long as it keeps them from having to crawl around. There’s more than enough other garbage around the house to get mad about already, anyway, and at first she almost thinks that the weird metallic doll standing in a corner is, well, just some weird doll. Then Tora stops running and starts inserting the parts into it, and Nia realises that _that_ must be the Artificial Blade.

“That’s ‘Poppi’?”

“It Poppi!” Tora exclaims proudly. “Now just need a strike of lightning, and then…”

“And then?” questions Dromarch.

“Then Poppi will wake!”

Pyra says, “Then please do hurry up.”

“Meh meh,” grumbles Tora, and gets to work flipping a bunch of switches and connecting cables. Outside, thunder rumbles ominously, and Nia flops down on the floor to wait. Tora keeps mumbling under his breath as he works and Nia _hopes_ that he hasn’t gotten a part wrong. Maybe it’s just cursing... Do Nopon even have curse words?

Pyra has crouched down by the barred shut window, and Nia scrambles over to her.

“Hey,” she says. “Whatcha looking at?"

“The battleship,” says Pyra, and when Nia looks out she can indeed see it, hanging like a looming shadow over Torigoth. Nia grimaces when she thinks about how it must be to be held captive there – she fucking hated it. Being hunted down like a murderer might’ve had something to do with it, she thinks darkly…

“Just hang on a little longer,” she pats Pyra’s shoulder and tries to cheer her up. “The fur ball seems to be almost done, anyway. Then it’s jail break time.”

“Yeah.” Pyra sighs, but then she determinedly raises her chin. “We only need to find a way onto the ship…”

“I know a way. There’s a root that grows beneath the harbour – very convenient.”

Pyra smiles. “So then, we’ll break them out.”

 _That’s the spirit_! Nia smiles back, maybe a little sharper but nevertheless. “Yeah, that’s the way!”

Pyra gives her a sweet look with that small smile, which together is too much for Nia’s dumb lil’ heart to handle, and Nia is just _so_ grateful that she isn’t one for blushing. Dammit. Pyra is feeling like shit at the moment, this is the wrong time for Nia to have a crisis.

-and that’s when Tora exclaims, “And now… witness birth of first Artificial Blade in Alrest! Poppi!”

After that, things get busy.

 

* * *

 

They saved Rex, Azurda and Perun, walked right into an ambush, wrecked a water tower, ran out of Torigoth, and now their team is twice as big as before and Nia isn’t sure what to make of it all. Seeing Rex again makes her remember what she decided to do, but… She doesn’t know what she’ll do with herself after leaving them. Going back to hiding and running and barely making it, she supposes.

(Dromarch doesn’t deserve that. But if she gets Pyra and Rex in any more trouble just because of who she is…)

The sun rises above the Cloud Sea as they walk across the plains, and the landscape rapidly turns from what looks like a shadowy blue valley into a something more like a soft yellow meadow. There’s dew in the grass and Poppi stops to look at flowers, while Tora excitedly tries to explain to Azurda how exactly her walking works. Perun congratulates Pyra for the successful rescue, and Rex is saying that they were both awesome back in the fight against Brighid and Mòrag.

Nia takes a last look, pats Dromarch, and then they turn around and start walking.

They need some kinda ship to get off of Gormott, but after that-

“Hey, Nia!”

Nia stops and turns around. She shouldn’t have. She knows she shouldn’t have, okay, it’ll just make it 435% harder to leave but she just couldn’t resist.

“Nia,” calls Pyra, “Where are you going?”

Rex asks doubtfully, “You aren’t leaving, are you?”

“I got you lot captured back in Torigoth,” explains Nia. “I can’t just hang around you and put you all in danger like that.”

 _Stop disapproving, Dromarch_. She can feel him looking at her with those sad grandpa eyes.

Pyra steps forward. “Nia, I’m _the Aegis_ , I think we’d be getting odd looks no matter what.” Rex nods excitedly behind her, and so does Poppi. So does Perun, now that Nia is looking.

“But…” there’s some argument she could make, surely.

Pyra’s faster. “Nia,” she says. When the rays of morning sunlight hit her, her face seem to glow softly. “We’ve already got this far by sticking together.”

 _We’ve already destroyed a water tower and almost died twice._ Haha. That’s not too bad, actually.

Rex adds, “Yeah! We need you on our team, Nia! And you too Dromarch.”

“Please?” says Pyra. And Nia takes a step towards instead of away.


End file.
